


Ultimate Frisbee

by taiyoukei



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, Hollstein - Freeform, I am so sorry, Some angst, carm's mom just sucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-29 09:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8483392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taiyoukei/pseuds/taiyoukei
Summary: Carmilla hates gym class. She also hates assholes, thus, when one starts yelling at Laura, she feels the need to get involved.





	1. The Encounter

Carmilla Karnstein hated gym class; it was boring, full of upperclassmen, the teacher was awful, and she didn’t know anyone. She didn’t really care about making friends, and she had no interest in being there. The only reason Carmilla even bothered to take the class in the first place was because it was a graduation requirement.

It was the first real day of the class, in the sense that previously everyone had only sat there on their phones or they were forced to walk around the track aimlessly for ninety minutes, but today was different: they had to actually change and they were going to do whatever god awful thing the teacher had in store for them. 

From the second she had dragged her feet up the stairs to the gym from the locker room she was certain that the class was going to be awful. Gym is third period; right after lunch on B days, and she had sat alone at her table listening to music. She wished she could have stayed there. She walked into the gym and plopped herself down on the burgundy bleachers. Carmilla hadn’t bothered changing; it wasn’t required, and the rest of the girls hadn’t either.

“Class, as you all know today we will be playing a real game,” their teacher began, “and I decided that it will be Ultimate Frisbee.”

Frisbee. Jesus Christ. Out of all the things that they could be doing, they would be playing rip off football where instead of the football they would use a Frisbee instead. She believed this class was a literal joke; there’s no way in hell Frisbee is a fulfilling gym class experience. 

The teacher continued to talk for approximately ten minutes, in which she explained the rules and regulations of the game. Ms. Moore would also be picking their teams. Carmilla was regretting her decision to not skip class. She was a sophomore who had transferred to Silas High School that year, she didn’t think anyone would’ve noticed if she wasn’t there, especially not this early in the school year.  
They finished being divided up into teams and were sent out to walk to the turf, which is where the teacher decided they would be playing instead of on one of the fields that are located significantly closer to the building. Everything was irritating the broody teenager, and she was on a team of complete assholes. This was going to be a fun day. 

They began to play. They had been put against a team which was all guys, except for one girl who she had noticed previously. She was in a few of her other classes, her name was Laura? Carmilla wasn’t entirely certain, though she believed that was what it was. Despite both teams being full of jocks, Carmilla’s team had a noticeable advantage as they were able to score without her help. Due to this, she only bothered running to keep up with wherever they were on the turf when Ms. Moore was watching – she wanted to get participation points because if she failed gym she would be forced to take it again. She would take the class again over her dead body.

Just as she had caught up with everyone her teacher stopped looking, of course that would happen. Regardless, she was glad she did because there seemed to be some sort of argument going on and she wanted to see what the hell was happening. Some tall guy on the other team with shoulder length blonde hair and practically invisible eyebrows was yelling at Laura, who had apparently been unsuccessful in catching the Frisbee because it had gone over her head. It was really pissing Carmilla off because that was an unjust reason to yell at someone since it was obviously out of Laura’s control.  
She had had enough. “Hey, asshole. Why don’t you go pick on someone your own size?” she hissed towards him. 

Before she could process what was happening she felt a sharp pain in the nose and doubled over- 

“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.” She fumed. 

She realized what had happened – she had been punched by him for telling him to leave Laura alone. This had to have been some sort of bad joke. She rose her hand to cover her nose as she was trying to process everything through the throbbing pain of it. She tilted her head back up so that she could glare at him, but she was growing rather dizzy and stumbled backwards. Everyone had turned to look at them, even the other teams who had ceased playing. 

“Are you okay?” she heard a soft voice, Laura’s voice, ask. 

“I’m fine.” Carmilla grumbled under her breath. 

“There’s blood.” Carmilla heard a girl who was now standing behind the blonde guy say. 

Great. This was just splendid. She moved her hand down to look at it, sure enough, there was blood. She walked over to the teacher, who had just noticed that something had happened.  
“Are you okay to continue playing?” Ms. Moore asked.

“I’m bleeding.” She replied bluntly, with a bit of force in her words. 

“Um, I’ll have someone walk you to the nurse, is there anyone you would prefer?” 

How Ms. Moore had years of teaching experience was a mystery to the dark haired girl, but, nevertheless, she was stuck with this teacher for the rest of the year.  
“I don’t really know anyone.” Karnstein articulated. 

“Great. Err, Laura could you come here and walk - what’s your name again? - to the nurse?” the unsatisfactory adult replied. 

Carmilla didn’t bother replying. She didn’t care. Laura strolled over to where the two were standing. Apparently the asshole hadn’t touched her, for which Carmilla was grateful because that would’ve been a mess, though two injured girls would look worse on that guy’s record. Whatever. Without speaking, the students began to walk back to the building, and it occurred to Carmilla that she didn’t even know where the nurse’s office was. 

Carmilla’s thinking was interrupted by the lighter haired girl, “Thank you, for standing up for me, I mean. I’m sorry that you got hurt. I should’ve done something. I’m sorry.”

“Cupcake, don’t worry about it.” Honestly, she didn’t care that much – it got her out of gym class for the rest of the time. 

“My name’s Laura. You’re Carmilla, right?” she retorted with her pretty eyes fixed on the paler, bleeding teenager. 

“I’m aware. And yes, I’m Carmilla. Carmilla Karnstein.” 

They had entered the building using the outside door on the second floor. They had to buzz in and wait for someone in the office to unlock it before they could enter, but that had only taken a few seconds. They walked past the office and Carmilla followed Laura. A few doors down, they stopped and turned. There was a closed door with a sign that stated “Health Suite – 206.” Laura opened the door and walked inside, with Carmilla trailing behind her, still holding her hand to her nose since the bleeding hadn’t completely stopped. She didn’t want the other girl to see it. 

They walked to the nurse’s small room since the waiting room was empty. The nurse, apparently named Ms. Rudy, asked them what had happened, et cetera; the normal questions. Laura had done most of the explaining for her, and Ms. Rudy handed Carmilla some gauze for her nose to help stop the bleeding and an ice pack. 

“Is there anyone I can call? I’m fairly certain that you have a concussion from moving your head too fast.” she inquired. 

“Um, you could try my older sister, Mattie, but she’s at work right now, I think. Her phone number should be in the system.”

She called to no prevail. Mattie was indeed at work and could not pick Carm up, which didn’t surprise her, but it was rather unfortunate. If she left school she would miss her trial advocacy class, though she also didn’t want anyone to see her in her injured state.

Her nose had finally stopped bleeding so the nurse led her to the bathroom so she could wash up. She looked at her bloodstained face in the mirror and frowned. How bothersome. The nurse said her nose probably wasn’t broken, but she couldn’t tell for certain. She hoped it wasn’t. 

She had finished washing up so she returned to the other section of the nurse’s office, where Laura and the nurse were talking. Ms. Rudy brought her up to speed. Laura had suggested that her father, who didn’t have work today, take Carmilla home since it wasn’t the best for her to stay home. They had called Mattie, who had said that was okay, and were waiting for Carmilla’s approval. 

She didn’t have any better ideas, and she certainly did not want them to attempt to get her mother, the Dean of the nearby Silas University, involved so she agreed to it. Laura swiftly texted her father and he was on his way. He had been forced into agreeing to take his daughter home from school early as well. Ms. Rudy told them to go get their belongings from the locker room, and they went on their way. 

Carmilla was still rather dizzy, but she tried her best not to show it. They were silent while they remained on the second floor. The locker room was on the first floor, so they were heading towards the stairwell. 

“Do you want to stay at my place until your sister can get you? I know we don’t know each other very well, however it probably isn’t the best for you to be alone right now since you could still pass out and injure yourself more.” The other sophomore said, she had worry in her voice. 

“I’ll be fine, creampuff. My brother will be home once school ends.”

“That won’t be for a little over two hours. Carmilla, please, it’s no bother. I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself more, I feel really bad about what happened.” She elaborated.

Sighing, Carmilla agreed. She didn’t want to, but considering her vision was going out from walking down the stairs, Laura had a fair point. They reached the locker room and grabbed their stuff. It was only 12:30. Then they proceeded back to the nurse’s office and sat in the waiting room. 

Around 12:40, Laura’s father texted her and stated that he was there and about to come in. She was worried. She didn’t have a father, and she didn’t want either of them to question her about her family. She didn’t particularly like her family, with the exception of Mattie. Mattie was like her best friend, even though she was six years older than her. She wouldn’t care if they asked her a bit about her older sister, especially since they would inevitably be meeting her when she came to pick her up after work. 

Laura’s father came into the nurse’s office, “Hey, Laura.” He turned to face the two, “you must be Carmilla. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

“You too, sir.” She said in a bit of a rush, though she wouldn’t admit it, she was a little intimidated. Authority figures scared her, thanks to her mother, but to the world of her classmates she was fearless and cold, and she intended to stay that way. 

“Well, I guess we’ll be on our way,” he stated, “thank you, Ms. Rudy, for letting them stay here until I arrived. I already signed them out in the office.” 

Someone save her. She was going to be stuck with the two for a couple of hours and it was going to be her first “bonding” experience with anyone from her new school. Better yet, she had been injured in front of Laura. A sign of weakness. The Dean’s voice rang through her head – weakness is not tolerated in the Karnstein household.


	2. The Hollis Household

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla is introduced to the humble dwellings of the Hollis family. She appreciates everything they've done for her today, but she still isn't able to get her emotions to sit correctly. She hates being like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild reference to parental abuse, please read with caution.

Laura’s house was rather quaint; it had a homey, inviting vibe to it, one which Carmilla had not really ever encountered before as the Karnstein household was anything but homey. It was a house with white siding, maroon shutters, and a maroon door. For whatever reason, that color scheme worked. There was a somewhat short wooden post fence surrounding the entirety of the perimeter of the fence, and it grew taller in the backyard to provide more privacy. She noticed a swing set peaking up from the top of it, which reminded her of when Mattie used to sneak her and Will out of the house to go to the park. However, like all good things, that ended the day mother finally caught them. 

Carmilla had been brought out of her thought when she realized the others were getting out of the car, she promptly grabbed her things and proceeded to follow them. They hadn’t said that much in during the drive to the Hollis household from the high school. Mr. Hollis had asked her about school, learned that she was new there and that she had been trying to stand up for his daughter, which he appreciated. He treated Carmilla kindly, but she remained hesitant as he was an adult who could most likely injure her severely if she got on his bad side. And, again, that led to her being worried. Authority figures truly were not her most favorite. 

She forced herself out of her mind completely once they reached the front door. Laura unlocked it with a silver key since her father had offered to carry her backpack and books. Carmilla was the last one to enter the house. There was a hallway in the front area of the home, with some tiles to put muddy shoes on, followed by cherry hardwood floors. It was nice. The walls of the hallway area were a cream color, but there were many picture frames hanging on them with pictures of Laura and her father. 

There was a staircase to the right and a room shortly up to the left. She wasn’t sure where to go, so she waited for a signal from one of the others. She ended up being greeted by a warm smile from both of the people who lived in the household. 

“Why don’t we go to my room, Carmilla? You can lay on my bed since I’m sure you still aren’t feeling great.” The younger Hollis offered. 

“I’m fine. I’m not a weakling.” The raven haired girl spoke in a monotone, but with some force applied to her voice, “You don’t need to worry about me. I can handle myself.”

“Yes. That explains why you were unconscious for a few minutes. Did you even realize that?” 

Carmilla felt her face grow warm, “Oh.”

“My point exactly. You need rest, whether you want it or not; you’re going to take me up on my offer and come to my room with me.” The creampuff insisted.

A sigh escaped the other girl’s mouth. It was a faint sigh; quiet enough that Laura could barely register it coming from Carmilla. Nevertheless, the latter found herself following Hollis up a flight of stairs that thankfully weren’t very steep. However, she still managed to trip. 

Great, just great, was all Carmilla could think as she stumbled trying to regain her footing. How embarrassing. Her mother would have murdered her if she were here. Maybe not exactly murdered, but she definitely would have gotten a beating.

Papa Hollis had been walking behind them and managed to catch her daughter’s new friend so that she did not fall down the steps. He had a feeling she was downplaying how she felt, just so that she would be able to act as though she was okay and try to go home earlier. He was worried by this behavior but didn’t feel as though he was in a position to pry on it at the moment. All he could do was wait for the time to come where he was able to. He made a mental note to ask his daughter what else she knew about the newcomer later tonight. He could sense that something wasn’t right. 

“Thanks,” Carm mumbled with a sense of breathlessness in her voice after she felt the pair of strong hands grip her shoulders and put her back into place so that her feet were steady once more. 

“There’s no need to thank me. We can’t have you getting injured again.”

“I suppose you are right.” The teen responded again, her voice low and emotionless. 

Carmilla’s breathing was heavier than usual. She wasn’t used to be touched by anyone other than her mother. Her mother who beat her. Her mother who only cared if she were to bring honor to the family’s name or not. Her mother who raised her to show no emotion.

She began to dissociate a bit. Despite this, she was able to tell that they reached the end of the stairs and she was mindlessly walking on the flat ground, following Laura to where her room must be. Eventually, they reached it and she automatically sat on the bed that was in the center of it, not pausing to take in the appearance of the new space. She was in her terror mode. She needed to snap out of it, but she wasn’t able to control it. She was alive, but not enough to mean anything. The damage done by her mother was immense. 

“I’ll leave you girls to get situated,” and with that Laura’s father left and the door was closed. 

A moment of silence ensued. It wasn’t awkward, though it was far from comfortable. This was going to be a long evening. Carmilla inhaled, however, she found herself getting choked up. Not good. She could not show weakness. She wouldn’t shame the Karnstein name like this – she couldn’t. Her mother would find out somehow. 

Laura must have sensed that something was troubling her guest because she leaned over, sitting next to her, and took her hand in hers. Carmilla’s breathing only grew more irregular from this. Her stupid lungs were behaving against her will, just like her emotions did. This was terrible. 

Eventually, the calming voice of the girl who now held her hand broke the silence, “Carmilla, are you okay? What’s wrong? I can see that something is bothering you. I’m not that clueless, you know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long to get this update out! I've been struggling with my health, but I wanted to get it out before my surgery and summer class. Thank you for those who've stuck with this story in my absence, I hope this update wasn't a disappointment! I'll update as soon as I can. <3


	3. Walls Are Made to be Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla and Laura continue to talk the rest of the afternoon away at Laura's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this update took a little longer than expected! I will forever blame my homework.

“Laura, I-“ Carmilla began, “I, um, just have a bit of a problem getting accustomed to new places. New people too. Especially parents as a whole, they’re a bit tricky for me, I suppose you could say.” 

“That’s fair. Do you want to… talk about it? I won’t force you to, of course. I just want you to know that I’m here for you. I want to be your friend, Carmilla. Please let me be your friend. I don’t want you to be afraid to come to me if you need help.” Laura Hollis was a woman who would always speak honestly, and she had a good ability to have accurate readings on people, so she knew that the other girl really meant well. 

Carmilla was unsure of how to feel. The dark haired girl was not accustomed to honesty, potential friendships, or people genuinely being nice to her in general. This would take some getting used to. She knew that Laura wouldn’t have some ulterior motive to be nice to her like her mother would, meaning she knew that Laura was fairly trustworthy, but she still couldn’t help but be a bit suspicious. It’s just how she was raised. 

Despite being a high schooler, friends were merely a foreign concept to her; a concept she had heard about all of her life, however, it was one that never became a reality for her. Mattie and Will were always a part of her life, though one could say they were different because they were family. They would be almost like her friends, but they meant more to her. Mother would never be like that to her, though. Of course, there had been Ell, she had been her friend, or so she could suppose. She was long gone now. 

She chose to answer Laura’s honest statements with an honesty of her own, and she hoped that the other girl would see this and think of it as more than a consolation prize, “I don’t know. I’m not really used to talking about things? I’ve had a quiet life.”

“That’s sad. I’m sorry about that. My life has gotten quieter over the years too, especially without my mother. She, well, she died when I was younger.” 

The girl with lighter hair looked into Carmilla’s dark eyes, her own eyes were shining with glints of sadness and some other emotions thrown into the mix – frustration, and, maybe, anger? Carmilla wasn’t sure. However, she was sure that she hated this world. It was unfair to those who didn’t deserve anything bad that happened to them, and, yet, Laura had remained this kind, selfless young woman who only offered her friendship to her current guest. 

“I’m sorry to hear that too. I don’t mean to sound like I pity you; I hate pity and I know it doesn’t change anything that’s happened, but you really didn’t deserve to lose your mom. I think she would be proud of who you’ve grown up to become.” Carmilla may have a badass, laidback, sarcastic sort of reputation, but she wasn’t heartless – she was far from it. 

Laura was stunned. It was well-known around the school that the rumors about Carmilla weren’t entirely false. She was supposed to be someone without a care in the world. A grumpy, independent girl who seemed to get away with anything. She didn’t really believe these rumors anyway, though after getting to know Carmilla bit by bit they kept becoming the furthest thing from the truth about the girl who was currently sitting on her bed. She couldn’t help but wonder how these rumors got started. What happened to make her so closed off to everyone? She couldn’t simply ask that. She saw that her dark eyes did contain some hints of understanding in them, which worried her. 

She managed to respond after her moment of thinking, “Thank you, really. That’s one of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me. It means a lot, especially from you.” 

Carmilla laughed, “No need to act like I saved your life or anything. You don’t need to thank me. Relax a little, I don’t bite.” She then flashed her teeth in order to emphasize her point. 

“Are you sure? Your teeth do look pretty sharp.” Laura laughed too, and she realized that the raven was good at cheering people up, even if she probably would never admit it. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” She grinned.

“That’s good. I would need an adjustment period if my new friend was a vampire or something.” Laura joked with the other. 

Carmilla rolled her eyes. She was feeling a bit better, but the action did make her head hurt worse and she was fairly dizzy. Nothing she couldn’t handle. She’d dealt with worse before, so she decided to just smirk at the other. In fact, part of her didn’t even need to point out that they weren’t really friends. She didn’t seem to mind. 

“They always say that your eyes are going to be stuck like that if you continue to do that.” Laura decided she enjoyed the playful side of Carmilla a lot more than her broody side – she wanted to make Carmilla laugh and smile more. 

“If you eat too many carrots you’ll turn orange.” 

The other girl gasped, “That’s ridiculous.” 

“So is your eyes getting stuck in the back of your head.” Carmilla countered with a grin. 

Laura scoffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. She couldn’t believe this disrespect. Carmilla really was daring to question her very scientifically proven statement. She opened her mouth to respond, but she just sighed and closed it again. This was going to be a long afternoon. The other girl just laughed at her. Laura had come to realize that she liked hearing Carmilla laugh. It was the one time when she sounded happy. 

“I can’t believe this. First, you question me, and now you’re laughing at me.” Laura stated playfully.

“That’s my job, creampuff.” She didn’t even care that the pet name rolled off her tongue, she just assumed that Laura would take it playfully, or at least she hoped as much.

She pouted, “That’s not fair. It’s not my job to make your life miserable.”

“No, that would be my mother’s job.” Carmilla spoke quickly and without intent, so she tried to cover it up with a light-hearted laugh. 

Laura was frowning and looking at her with a hint of worry in her eyes. This made Carmilla anxious. She didn’t want to have to talk about her family. It wasn’t her cup of tea, rather it was far from it. The air in the room was a bit awkward, making the atmosphere uncomfortable.

Carmilla sighed, “You need to take everything I say with a grain of salt. I’m known to be quite sarcastic.” 

“You didn’t sound like you were joking.” Laura was serious, so Carmilla knew she couldn’t just try to change the subject. 

The dark haired girl’s voice got smaller as she replied, “I never said I wasn’t,” she cleared her throat, “but wouldn’t you love to find out. Such a shame that you aren’t going to. Anyway, I’m going to text my sister and ask when I need to leave.”

Laura decided not to pry anymore as Carmilla’s walls were back up. She mentally yelled at herself for expecting Carmilla to suddenly open up to her. However, before she got the chance to do anything she heard the other girl’s phone ringing. The ringtone was a dark song, it sounded like it was played on the organ. She glanced over and saw that the contact name was “THE DEAN,” and she also saw her visibly pale. 

“Who-“ Laura began to ask, but was cut off with a shake of Carmilla’s head.

The girl answered the phone, “Hello, mother.” Her voice was cold and it sent shivers down Laura’s spine. She could suppose she knew where the rumors surrounding the dark haired girl came from now. This was a different side of her. 

Laura could make out what was being said on the other line. An even colder voice was speaking. The girl with lighter hair wasn’t sure she had ever heard someone speak so full of power, but she was certain that it was terrifying. No wonder Carmilla didn't seem to like to talk about her mother. She didn't seem very motherly at all. 

“Mircalla, darling, your dear sister told me you were injured. I also heard you told her not to mention it to me. You know better than to ask Matska to keep secrets in this family, remember what happened last time? Anyway, I have a business trip and won’t be home for about a week. I trust you’ll keep William out of trouble, well, that is, if you don’t get into trouble yourself. I have to get going now. Goodbye, my daughter. Remember how the Karnstein family behaves.” The line dropped after that. 

Carmilla sighed, “Sorry about that. My mother doesn’t know when it’s appropriate to call people. I presume that my sister told her I was at a classmate’s house,” she paused and had a moment of understanding, “never mind, that’s the motive behind her calling rather than sending a simple text. Regardless, I apologize for my poor manners. It will not happen again.” 

“You sound like a robot when you talk like that. Actually, I’m fairly certain robots express more emotion than that. Don’t worry about it. It would be rude of you to ignore your mother.” Laura spoke softly, she sounded a bit concerned, though Carmilla was not entirely certain why. 

“Well, I suppose you are right about that. I am sorry that you had to hear that exchange, though. Don’t worry, my mother isn’t always that concise. She is quite capable of having real conversations occasionally.” She frowned. She didn’t want Laura to be concerned. That was quite possibly the last thing she wanted.

“Still… why was she like that? Why did she call you Mircalla?” Small steps could lead to little victories, Laura could expand her questions from there, but that wouldn’t stop her growing curiosity.

“Mircalla is my legal name, technically speaking. Never call me it – I don’t like it, nor do I ever use the name. My sister is the reason why people started calling me Carmilla; it was a nickname from when we were little, and soon my father took a liking to it as well. I prefer it too. As for why my mother was in a bad mood, it’s probably because her job is stressful. That’s all. Like I said, there’s nothing for you to worry about. I wouldn’t want your pretty little mind to get all caught up over something like my mother.” She spoke calmly, but sincerely, hoping Laura would become satisfied after hearing her answer. 

Laura was clearly processing the information which she had just been given, “Hm. Mircalla Karnstein. You sound important. I’m just thinking aloud; don’t think I’m addressing you with that name. I wouldn’t without permission.” She paused, “I do agree that Carmilla Karnstein sounds better. You sound more like a person and less like a distant being. I prefer your friendlier side too. I think it’s safe to say I would prefer you as Carmilla than Mircalla any day.” 

“Thank you, I suppose that was a compliment. I’m only really Mircalla around my mother. Sometimes I have to be for other purposes when around my family, but that’s different. I think I prefer being Carmilla too. People talk to me as Carmilla.” She admitted this to the other girl, though she wasn’t sure why. 

“No, thank you for being you.” Laura smiled at her, “It’s nice to let your guard down sometimes. I hope you can do that when you’re around me. You don’t need to be perfect in the Hollis household. As long as you’re yourself then it’s pretty safe to say that you’ll be given love in return.”

She wasn’t sure if it was the concussion, but Carmilla’s head was spinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope this was to your satisfaction. As always, I appreciate any feedback! :~)


	4. Lots of Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura and Carmilla think a lot. They also have a bit of a heart-to-heart discussion.

To put it simply, Carmilla found Laura to be frustrating. She wasn’t annoying or overbearing or anything – she was just frustrated because the dark-haired girl was unsure of how to feel about her. She found Laura to be almost terrifying since she was able to break down a lot of her boundaries within just a little while of knowing each other. That being said, she was perhaps overthinking this a little bit, but it’s not like she could help it because of the type of mother that she had. Carmilla’s mother was one who controlled her life, her every move, but Laura made her want to have a sense of freedom.

This freedom she wanted, well, she knew that it was not something that she would be able to obtain easily. She probably would not be able to obtain it at all, or at least that’s what she let herself believe. Carmilla didn’t have a fear of trying, no, she had a fear of the consequences of trying. After today she would have to leave her guard up even more; she would have to follow her mother’s wishes so to avoid any suspicions which she might have. 

The situation, of course, was not ideal. Carmilla didn’t plan on any of this happening. She wanted her day to be as uneventful as possible, despite it turning out to be quite the opposite. You can’t always have everything that you wish for. 

Regardless, she still could not wrap her brain around the entity that is known as Laura Hollis. What on earth does “thank you for being you” even mean? And how could she think to say that to someone whom she had just met? Of course, Carmilla had let her mouth spill a bit more about herself than she would care to admit, but it still was nowhere near a full image of herself. Yet Laura seemed to believe that she had a fair enough grasp on who the other girl was so that she could make statements like that. This girl was really something else.

Realizing she still hadn’t replied to her after thinking for a bit, Carmilla decided to say a prompt, soft, “Thank you,” even if she wasn’t certain that is was an appropriate response to her polite words.   
Nevertheless, Laura seemed content with her response as she just smiled away. This wasn’t helping to make the room spin any less than it already was. The dark haired girl assumed she would have to talk to Mattie about this because she didn’t fully understand it. Her older sister seemed to always have answers and advice for her, for which she was very grateful. 

“You don’t have to thank me!” was what Laura responded to her with sincerity audible in her voice as she spoke with enthusiasm. 

This made the other girl sigh, “Ugh, stop being so nice. You don’t need to be.” 

This girl truly was endlessly frustrating. Plus, Carmilla wasn’t really sure how to deal with people being kind to her. It just wasn’t something which she had a lot of experience with. To be perfectly honest, she didn’t have a lot of experience interacting with people her age either. Perhaps high school would change this for her, perhaps it wouldn’t. Only time would hold the answer to that, or so it seems that it would. 

Laura, however, was confused by this. She knew that Carmilla meant well, but she didn’t really know how to interpret her words. Why wouldn’t she be so nice to her? She didn’t have any reason not to be. After all, the girl had helped her when she was being teased in gym class. In fact, she had ended up getting injured for her. That was something which no one had ever done before. Laura had always been a little bit of an outcast, she was a bit overzealous and people seemed to be a little put off by her presence. Yet, even after not knowing her, the dark-haired girl had decided to save her from the taunting. It left her quite speechless. 

“Carm,” she began, hoping to change her mind, “you do realize that you saved me earlier, right? Why wouldn’t I be nice to you? You’ve been nothing but nice to me as well, so I really don’t have any reason to have anything but respect for you. You’ve been opening up to me, too, so I can hope that someday we’ll be good friends!” 

Good friends. Friends. That’s a first. Carmilla would say that she had a friend, a best friend, – Mattie – but she was her sister so she supposed that an argument could be made that she didn’t count. On some days she would consider William to be her friend, but again the sibling argument could be applied so he didn’t entirely count. Laura, on the other hand, was merely a girl from her school, if they started talking more then it would be inevitable that she would fall under the “friend” category. This day was just getting weirder as it progressed. 

Not seeing the point in an argument, the girl decided to just respond with, “I know. I just suppose you’d think of me as intimidating or something, most people do, which could maybe scare you from being nice to me. I don’t know what I was thinking, I guess. I’m sorry for saying that. I didn’t mean to upset you or anything.”

Laura tilted her head slightly to the side; Carmilla had thought she had upset her? That wasn’t quite the case. She wasn’t angry or saddened or anything, just a little frustrated. She wanted the other girl to trust her, to feel safe around her. She didn’t want her to think that she had upset her. She didn’t really find her intimidating either. The brown-haired girl was quite certain that Carm must have a soft side to her, even if she doesn’t show it very often. She decided to make it a goal to see her as her true self; Laura thought that she seemed a bit scared around others so she wanted to see what the dark-haired girl was like when she was comfortable when she was talking about something which excited her, to learn about her interests. 

“I hate to break it to you, but you really aren’t as intimidating as you might think you are. You are quite the opposite actually, you make me feel safer at school. I would thank you for that, but you would probably say that I don’t need to thank you so I won’t. Keep that in mind though. You haven’t upset me at all. Please don’t think that you have.” 

Carmilla opened her mouth and paused for a moment, eventually speaking, “Thanks for that, creampuff. You’re awfully sweet, you know.” 

“Thank you as well. Now that that’s settled, why don’t you tell me about what interests you? Tell me about yourself. I really do want us to be great friends.” Laura admitted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I've realized over the past few months that recovering from surgery will be a longer journey than I anticipated, so I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations as a gift for making you wait so long. 
> 
> As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!


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